


The Librarian's Apprentice

by SisterWolf



Category: Discworld - Terry Pratchett
Genre: Drabble, Gen, Microfic
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-17
Updated: 2021-01-17
Packaged: 2021-03-15 23:34:58
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 351
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28821582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/SisterWolf/pseuds/SisterWolf
Summary: Books are the most important magic. Just a microfic without a solid ending.
Comments: 10
Kudos: 15





	The Librarian's Apprentice

**Author's Note:**

> I would KILL for Paul Kidby to do a discworld READ poster.

The Library of Unseen University was not, in point of fact, equipped with a children’s section. There were no jaunty posters of famous citizens emblazoned with the word “READ,” on them. There were no comfortable, brightly-colored bean bags. There were certainly no picture-puzzles or maze toys, and neither the Librarian nor his assistants were likely to be found holding up an oversized picture-book and hosting story hour. While many of the wizards had nieces and nephews (or in many cases, great-nieces and great-nephews) who they sometimes even doted on, the University was not the sort of place where children were welcome.

It was with some surprise then, that the Librarian found the little human in one of the less-visited sections of the shelves. At first, the Librarian surmised that the tiny figure in mismatched clothes was a dwarf, but he quickly dismissed this idea after noticing a distinct lack of beard. He inched closer on his knuckles, moving rather quietly. Children, it had heard, had sticky faces and fingers and he didn’t want to startle it, risking damage to the book the child held in its hands. Anger had briefly rumbled beneath his massive chest at the sight of an interloper, but the small human, with messy hair and dirty face, had caught his interest. In her tiny hands was a large book full of illustrations of the various flora and fauna of Four Ecks, and she was staring at the pictures with a kind of furious determination. 

“Oook?” asked the librarian, a note of rising curiosity in his tone. He held very still as the girl looked up, panic flashing across her pixie features. “I’m sorry!” she whimpered, her eyes widening with shock at the shape of the orangutan. “I know I’m not supposed to be here but…” she looked down at the book, and closed it gently, putting it back on the shelf, in precisely the space it had previously occupied before bursting into tears. 

“Oook…” the Librarian sighed, trying to add a note of reassurance to the phrase. Gently he reached out, and patted her on the back.


End file.
